David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I intend to drive the winter road as soon as session is over, weather permitting. Maybe the Member could accompany me on that journey. Any opportunity that I get to get into the Member’s riding and the Sahtu to talk about opportunities there, I would certainly be more than happy to take him up on his offer.

Just this morning we continued the dialogue with industry. I met with MGM this morning in regard to concerns about the winter road, and the regulatory environment and a number of other issues. We all need to be continuing that dialogue and working to develop those...

I agree with the Member on this. Again, it’s the first I’ve heard of it. I will ask the department about it. It’s a practice that, if it is taking 48 hours, that’s not acceptable. We need to be getting back to people much sooner than 48 hours. She has my commitment that I will follow this up immediately with the department.

I thank the Member for raising the issue of agriculture here in the House and how important it is to many of our communities here in the NWT. The government continues to support agriculture in the NWT through the Territorial Farmers Association and other programs that we provide.

I know we have this Growing Forward 2 Fund that we’ve signed off with the federal government. It is going to provide about $6 million here in the Northwest Territories for other programs related to agriculture and the development of our agricultural centre. I believe we are looking for a type of signature project...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for bringing this concern to my attention. The issue with the 48-hour waiting period for getting a callback, that’s news to me. It is certainly something that I take seriously, and I’ll certainly follow up with the department on whether or not that is the case each and every day. Forty-eight hours is a long period of time for somebody to wait for a callback, so we’ll certainly take a look at that practice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That sounds like a proposition for the Dragon’s Den or something. If the Member has entrepreneurs in the Sahtu – and I know there’s a number of very good entrepreneurs in the Sahtu and the communities the Member represents – that sounds like a very interesting proposition. Certainly, the Northwest Territories has a bounty of fresh water. Maybe there is an opportunity there to market that as bottled water. I appreciate the Member bringing that up.

Thank you. The Texas gates that will be installed on the north side of the bridge should be installed in the spring. Those will keep bison off of the bridge.

As to the maintenance, I believe the department continues to work with the community of Fort Providence and opportunities there to look at maintenance opportunities. As well, there are some other works that are going to be needed over the next eight to nine months, and certainly Deh Gah is going to be included in some of the work that is going to be required, remedial work on the bridge. I know they’ve partnered up with Ruskin to get some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wouldn’t know the status of the ice crew and what they were doing. I certainly would go back to the department and see if the department knows exactly what those folks are up to.

On the Merv Hardie ferry crew, there were a few employees, or most of the employees were of a casual nature. I believe others were offered employment elsewhere. To the exact status of those employees, I’d certainly be more than happy to get the Member the status of the employees that did serve us, and serve us very well, on both the ice crossing and on the Merv Hardie itself. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’d have to follow up with the department on exactly what the plan is for the capital dollars for Highway No. 7 for ‘13-14 and get that information for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve started a program where we’re going to see capital dollars flow into Highway No. 7. It’s going to begin this year. I believe it’s just over $1 million and it’s going to continue for a period of years. I believe it’s 10 years.

Given the pressures on our capital budget – and I don’t have to mention to Members about the pressures on our capital budget around the Northwest Territories – I’ve made commitments to the Member to get a long-term program for Highway No. 7 and that’s what we’re doing. We are getting some money into that highway on an annual basis. I certainly...

Yes, we are looking at that. Again, given what’s happened here this winter with the weather and the traffic, I think we need to be looking at all of that. Certainly, from our perspective, safety of that road and the safety of the travelling public is the number one priority.